I almost got super cheeky and put the forthcoming Black Swan (2010) at #1 on account of Darren Aronofsky sitting in that director's chair. He brings out career bests from actors without fail, does he not? See also: Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Hugh Jackman, Mickey Rourke and (far more arguably) Ellen Burstyn & Marisa Tomei.

19 comments:

Volvagia
said...

Leon alone suggests bigger, better things. (My five Best Child Performances are: 1. Corey Feldman in Stand By Me, 2. Natalie Portman in Leon, 3. River Phoenix also in Stand By Me, 4. Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire and 5. Jean-Pierre Leaud in The 400 Blows.) Hopefully she'll top that film soon and it could very well be Black Swan to do it.

By coincidence, I came across an article at Lovefilm.com that had their own Top 20 Actresses Under 30, and of course Natalie is in it. She's ranked at number 14, down from her previous position of 5 in 2009. Actually, Nathaniel, the list is very similar to your own, though there are some questionable inclusions (i.e. Meagan Fox, who though very beautiful, has yet to show us that she can actually act). Moreover, they have put our beloved Anne Hathaway at number 19! And back in 2009, she had their number 1 spot.

Anyhow, for those of you interested in reading this, here is the link:

I remember thinking she was really stuck up and introverted for some reason, and then I recently watched her interview on Inside The Actors Studio and she's such a fun, lively girl. She's just got brains to go along with it.

OMGGG!!! I've never seen the Natalie raps! That was perhaps the best thing I've seen in my entire 17 years of existence! Holy crap! Hahaha. Amazing! I loved it. :P

She was stunning in "Cold Mountain"... absolutely jolted the film to life. And her work in "Closer" was gorgeous, too. I think she's got quite a different screen presence from a lot of other young actresses around her age and I hope "Black Swan" really brings that to the fore.

I don't care what anyone says, I love Natalie Portman. And I just hope she gets better roles and her carrer explodes. She is one of the best young actresses in the business. I keep renovating my faith in her but she never gives me something to hold on to(coff Brothers coff). Black Swan can't come soon enough. If Aronofsky doesn't get a hell of a performance from her, then no one stands a chance.

Open the 2010s in style Natalie. That by 2020 you, Hathaway and Knightley dominate Hollywood :D

Funny thing: I was checking who was born in the same year as her in Hollywood; it's a pretty diverse year. Interesting that 3 modern music icons (Beyoncé, Britney and Timberlake), 2 outstanding supermodels (Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrósio) and 2 sport legends (Federer, Serena Williams) were born in 81. Also some undeserving movie stars (Jessica Alba, Hayden Christensen), certain socialites (Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie) and of course there are also good actors in this bunch too (Sienna Miller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Rinko Kikuchi, Rupert Friend) that join Natalie Portman in one of the most quality years of the 80s :D

And even more, she shares her birthday date with Johnny Depp, Michael J. Fox and Aaron Sorkin.

I'm glad you mentioned Garden State. So many times, when a beautiful woman portrays geeky and awkward, there's all this heavy makeup and layers of costume and maybe a fat suit (horrors!). But Natalie just acted geeky, and without being any less beautiful, she was completely plausible as being perceived more for her geekiness than her beauty.

Her performance in Closer is so hard to define... I can't tell if she was best in show or the weak link of the cast. It's a very different kind of acting, and I don't know if it's brilliant or stiff and stagey. It puzzles me.